Chemical of the Week #5: Carmine – Bug Extract used to Dye Food?

Carmine

Another view of Carmine, with fourth ring more visible. I will be explaining some of these different types of rings in the near future.

PubChem Chemical ID: 14950

Empirical Formula: C22H20O13

Molecular Weight: 492.39 g/mol

Synonyms: Carminic Acid
Cochineal
Natural Red 4
Coccus Cactii Extract
E120 and about 50 more names for different formulations etc :-p

Commonly called Cochineal, this vibrant red dye is commonly added to many foods, pharmaceuticals, toiletries, paints, cosmetics and is also used as a microscopic stain. Carmine is isolated from insect Cochineal, Dactylopius Coceus Costa that use the prickly pear cactus as a host. Cochineal nests are quite obvious on prickly pear leaves and appear as white patchy fuzzy masses. The insects are crushed and processed a number of ways to produce dyes but one notable method is with alcohol (ethanol) and alumni to produce the robust red pigment (1,2). The aluminum compound is called Carmine, and the more raw product made of crushed bodes is called cochineal.

So yes, crushed bug bits in your latte, and a glut of other food globs. Starbucks got in trouble with vegans for this, it was in one or more of their berry drinks.

The safety of Cochineal has been evaluated multiple times. There are numerous case reports of people having allergic reactions to the additive (3). One such case in a factory, 3 employees with respiratory problems were tested had positive skin prick results. Several studies where done on the carcinogenicity of cochineal in laboratory animals. One even inhibited tumor growth in the majority of rats inject (4). On the contrary, another experiment showed that Carmine mimics the effects of some carcinogens (5).

So yeah, may or not be carcinogenic, however an allergen to some. Nature produces a lot of cancer causing compounds, and so do many age old ways we prepare food. I will discuss more of these things at a later date. So stayed tuned! I prefer to get these out every by every Tuesday, so my apologies for the being tardy. Alright, of to bed, I gotta catch a flight to NYC in the wee hours.

References

1
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Carmine#section=MeSH-Tree

2
https://www.livescience.com/36292-red-food-dye-bugs-cochineal-carmine.html

3
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search2/r?dbs+hsdb:@term+@rn+@rel+1260-17-9

4 & 5
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/carminic_acid#section=Non-Human-Toxicity-Excerpts
Specifically: MIHAIL N ET AL, NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 57(10) 500 (1970)
&
Rochat MH, Vesely DL; Biochem Biophys Res Commun 111 (2): 409-14 (1983)